Much more than crafting Ice Cream.
Not much has happened since it’s a very short trip. I spent most of the time in the car taking pictures, going on my iPhone and of course playing with my 3DS. We arrived at the hotel around 3-4 PM and relaxed rest of the day.
As for tomorrow, it’s going to be a long drive since Minneapolis is 600 miles away from South Bend, Indiana.
Not too much to say, but it took nearly 7 hours to get to the hotel where I am staying for the night… After that, we are on the road again.
As you might have known back in November of last year, I have posted a rant about the intrusive pat downs and body scanning and why they are so intrusive. If touching little children isn’t enough, don’t worry… you will get outraged by this:
TSA stands by officers after pat-down of elderly woman in Florida
When I heard about it, I got outraged considering the fact that they forced a cancer stricken grandmother to take off her diaper who is probably going trough a lot of stress already. She doesn’t need to go through any more trouble than she needs to. Also, common sense will tell you that this grandmother isn’t a terrorist, especially at this state, so they could have just exempt her and let her be. Unfortunately, the TSA doesn’t care about the moral repercussions and go ahead with it anywhere. This is the part that got me really angry.
I feel that the policy needs to be changed so that the elderly and children doesn’t have to deal with the mental scaring of pat downs. I know airport security is important, but they need to have common sense and sensitivity, which there is a lack of it ever since they implement these pat downs. Also, these intrusive pat downs needs phased out completely and we should just stick to body scanners and train TSA agents to detect suspicious behavior of a terrorist. Otherwise, we should just boycott flying and stick to alternative modes of transportation until the TSA changes their ways.
Over the weekend, someone in California who was going to visit his relatives and he check to see if San Diego International Airport was doing the body scanners and pat downs. The TSA website didn’t indicate that they used pat downs or body canners. He recorded the whole confrontation with the TSA by refusing a pat down from his now famous saying, “if you touch my junk, I’ll have you arrested.” He was escorted out of the checkpoint and got his ticket refunded. You can read more about his TSA encounter at his blog.
Since the underwear Christmas Day Bomber incident of last year, the TSA have to add these measures to keep passengers safe. However, pat downs and full body scanners are crossing the line with the visual strip search reveals the breasts and private areas. In addition, the extensive pat downs are criticized as being a “legal” sexual assault, excitement for the pedophiles/perverts and intrusion of privacy. Not to mention, both of these protective measures could possibly violate the 4th Amendment and might not be effective in stopping a potential underwear bomber.
Here is my take on the controversy. I think pat downs are an intrusion of privacy because since when they have the right to touch or see my privates? I would only allow only my doctor, girlfriend or my parents, not TSA agents. I feel that it is just a sick excuse to grope someone’s breasts and privates for the pleasure of it. Also, think about the children and those child pedophiles! Besides, a large line can be a protential advantage for the terrorist without being on the plane, a major reason why pat downs are ineffective and risky.
Full body scans is also big issue with privacy and health concerns. Most body scanners use x-rays, which can be harmful for mothers who are pregnant, elderly people, cancer patients and men. While these machine gives off little radiation, it could be an issue for frequent fliers, which needs to go through the scanners frequently. The frequent exposure to the x-rays can potentially impact someone’s health. TSA denies that the scanners are an impact towards someone’s health even though a lot of people have concerns. Fortunately, people can opt out and take the pat down instead.
In addition, there are privacy concerns with the body scans. While the TSA denies that the scanners stored any images of naked bodies, this is not the case. According to specification document released by the Freedom of Information Act, it reveals that the scanner actually saves the images if the training mode is turn on. As a result, EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center), a non-profit organization is now suing Homeland Security to have them suspends the use of these machines and extensive pat downs. Like the pat down, the full body scanners are still ineffective towards stopping the terrorists and just add inconvenience towards the travelers.
Like the pat down, I don’t like the body scanners either. I still don’t want them to see my privates. The scans are basically free porno and it’s likely that the TSA employees are enjoying these high-resolution scans of a person’s naked body. To me, this is disgusting and crosses the line.
In the end, pat downs and full body scanners are like 1984, government invading people’s privacy with private areas and take away people’s rights away. Both of these measures do nothing to protect passengers from the terrorists since they won’t change their security measure to make it more effective. Unlike the US, other countries don’t have pat downs or even full body scanners. This is because they lookout for a terrorist behavior and secure the aircraft that a hijack or bombing cannot happen. I think everyone who operates the TSA needs to get fired and replaced with competent people who would take security seriously. Until the body scans and pat downs are eliminated, everyone is better off taking a road trip, a bus or train and forget flying. I would be doing that since flying sucks anyways.
Flash is becoming a never ending nightmare with high CPU usage and the laptop getting hot. Even with a i5, the laptop still manage to get very hot when I play a 360p Youtube Video. On top of that, 10.1 video acceleration was on and it didn’t do ANYTHING! The video still played really choppy.
There is no wonder why Apple doesn’t want to install Flash by default, it’s a piece of shit. Adobe insists that Flash does not cause a computer overheat and drain the battery quickly, they are dead wrong. Stop shafting the Mac and Linux users out there, because nobody is happy.
And yes, I use ClicktoFlash so I don’t have Flash Ads eat up my CPU and make my laptop a steaming hotplate.
Seriously Amazon, do we need such a big box to ship a keyboard protector for the Macbook Pro? I thought you are about saving the environment? With a box that big, i’m expecting a dakimakura or something.
I hardly had any issues with my Apple products since my Late 2006 Macbook Pro (Tohno Minagi) is still holding up along with my iPhone and my iPad. However, my Late 2008 Macbook Pro named Fujibayashi Kyou is being a bit tsun tsun lately. I had these issues after I brought the laptop two years ago:
Did not cost me anything since I have extended warranty.
After I got my screen and wireless card replaced, now the whole screen blinks for a second with the integrated graphics mode. This would happen sporadically and it could become very annoying. Also, it was something that never happened to me before. Yet again, I brought the computer back for more repairs for those issues including the weak hinge. Now Apple is going to replace the logic board, screen and wireless card to see if that fix the problem. If I get it back and it still have the same issues or the problems get even worse, I am going to demand a replacement… and next time, I will not name it after a tsundere since you know what happens… Hell breaks loose.
Well, this doesn’t came as a surprise since other TV providers like Time Warner and the rip-off Dish Network are having the same problems with Broadcasting companies like Fox. It seems that Fox, owned by News Corp. wants more money from Cablevision when they already make a lot of money. Now they want to pull Fox Network from Cablevision tomorrow in protest. It makes me wonder, how low could News Corp. go? I bet they needed the 80 million dollars to support the GOP campaign and the Tea Party, so they needed to raise the transmission fees for Cablevision.
I’m with the providers with this one. It seems that the broadcast companies are becoming too greedy. The increased broadcasting costs are only going to get passed down to the customers, which always seem to get shafted.
Also, don’t say that it only happens to cable providers, it can happen to any TV provider. So, if they think I am going to switch away from Cablevision, the answer is no. In the end of the day, it’s the same old shit and satellite providers rip you off more than cable providers. So why bother?
Too bad this didn’t affect Fox News…
After 4 recent suicides linked to bullying, people are suddenly becoming aware of bullying and cyber bullying, Bulling is a very destructive act that can ruin someone’s self-esteem. It could ultimately leave the victim to depression or even suicide. I know how it feels since I have been bullied as a result of my nationality and the school administration does absolutely nothing in stopping the bullies. I’m not alone… Parents also experience this because the officials won’t do anything to stop it and leave them pretty hopeless.
With Technology becoming easier for people to communicate through the internet. At the same time, it could become a weapon since the nternet makes it easier to bully people online anonymously. This makes cyberbullying 10x more hurtful than regular bullying since you can’t tell whose doing it. Cyberbullying can range from insulting people online, spreading false rumors for intentions of hurting a person or sending of threatening emails and messages. Trolling or flaming messages towards a person is also considered cyberbullying depending on the content.
How do I respond to these messages? Just ignore and block them. If you ignore them, they most likely to give up and stop. Responding to them is a very bad idea since they know you will react and push your buttons even more.
What if it’s a person in your school thats cyberbullying you? First, take note of the email message and the number. Second, tell your parents and law enforcement officials so they investigate on the issue and don’t give up.
Just recently, the US Government is now taking notice of the bullying trend and having a summit on the bullying issue to come up with a plan to stop it. Even some states are pushing out tougher laws against bullying and cyberbullying. I think it’s a good thing they are finally doing something about it. Hopefully, it will lead in tougher anti-bullying and anti-cyberbullying laws and allow for education for bullying awareness since no person should ever have to deal with bullying and feel bad about him/herself. People should be able live a life free from worries without having to be stressed over who is going to pick on him/her next.
I think Miyazaki is right in this case… Technology even with its advantage has unleashed the pandora’s box that can never be closed.
If you have not seen my tweet that I posted last night, a freshman boy from Rutgers (New Brunswick campus) committed suicide (jumping off the George Washington Bridge) on September 22 over some indecent videos that a boy and a girl took over a webcam without the boy knowing. The indecent video involved a sex tape of the said freshman guy having sex with another guy and being leaked to the public. This wasn’t revealed until just recently.
I have to say; this was probably the most immoral and stupidest prank that a boy and a girl pulled on an innocent boy. It was not funny at all and I feel sorry for the parents who have to deal with their tragic loss of their son because it’s something that should never had happen. I hope that the perpetrators get severely punished for their horrid act and they are most likely going to be expelled from college…
It makes me wonder, what was gained from doing this horrible act? Absolutely nothing considering that their futures are completely ruined and they could never re-attend school or get a job since they have a criminal record. If I was them, was it really worth it pulling this prank that you think its funny even though it would result in a tragic loss? Absolutely not…
Social media is taking a big part in people lives. As a result, it makes cyber-bullying acts like these easier to carry out and hurtful more than ever. Colleges, High schools or perhaps the government really needs to pass some kind of cyber bullying law and prevention programs to prevent something like this from happening, since it is only going to get worse.